It is anything except a Christmas Carol: despite efforts from the Malaysian government to improve taxi services in Kuala Lumpur, cheating and bargaining fares remain the norms, according to yahoo groups.com “MalaysianTourismIndustryFriends”.
KUALA LUMPUR – They have the reputation of being among the worst in the world. For now more than a decade, Malaysian locals, tourists but also the entire travel industry have been complaining about taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur deemed as rogue, uneducated, aggressive, dirty…
The list of negative feedbacks about taxis is almost endless. The Malaysian government tried over the last few years to reinforce laws and force taxi drivers to use their meters. Small improvements have been seen but still too little compared to the high number of bad experiences that customers continue to have. They are still some good taxi drivers but it seems to represent a minority. This is why in a recent poll ranking taxis worldwide and published by londonCabs, Kuala Lumpur topped the list for the worst taxis ever.
Overcharging customers is especially the normal practice in the busy areas of Bukit Bintang to KLCC (where the Petronas Twin towers are located), a very attractive spot for both locals and tourists due to the high number of hotels, malls and offices in this area. Taxis would most of the time refuse to put their meter for the one-km distance between both areas, asking some 10 to 12 RM per ride. The government introduced for Bukit Bintang free shuttle buses to carry both locals and tourists.
The 15 vehicles in the fleet of the Go-KL buses have been well accepted: they are disabled-friendly, WiFi-enabled have GPS. They are also safe to travel with as they are equipped with security cameras and have enforcement officers often onboard.
The introduction of the Go-KL Bus generated anger from taxi drivers who staged then a protest and blocked traffic in the streets of the capital last October. But with no success, as taxis get really little sympathy from the population and tourists.
And they are right as taxi scams seem to continue unabated. On December 19, the chairman of the Sabah Chapter of MATTA, the Association of Malaysian Travel Agencies, related its bitter experience in the Yahoo-Groups “MalaysianTourismIndustryFriends”: “Last week, the taxi driver asked me to pay RM20 from Puduraya to KL Sentral without using a meter. I paid as I was in a rush to catch a flight back home. It is now a norm to be cheated whenever in Kuala Lumpur by taxi drivers. Never mind, I don’t think the driver will get very rich by dishonest gains. Or perhaps the fare structure is wrong and they are struggling to make ends meet”.
“ I would respectfully request the Honourable Minister of Tourism, Dato’ Seri Ng Yen Yen to express the tourism industry concern and disappointment with our Prime Minister and request the relevant authorities in particularly the Chairman of SPAD (The Land Public Transport Commission), Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar to be more proactive to resolve the issue. With the slogan People First, Performance Now, I am sure Malaysians can work together to minimize the impact of rogue taxi drivers.
SPAD, JPJ and the Ministry that issues licenses and permits to taxis and taxi drivers have to review and reassess their policies, rules and regulations before more chaos and fiasco takes place. They cannot continue to be silent and yet issue taxi licenses day by day as if nothing happens”.
The debate is likely to continue for a long time…
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
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